12 November Newsletter

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Dear Parents/Carers, I hope you had a great weekend watching the fireworks. Time travels quickly as we move from Bonfire Night to Remembrance Day and then on to Christmas. It has been amazing to see the support you and your children have given to the Poppy Appeal. I have never known us have to collect...

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope you had a great weekend watching the fireworks. Time travels quickly as we move from Bonfire Night to Remembrance Day and then on to Christmas. It has been amazing to see the support you and your children have given to the Poppy Appeal. I have never known us have to collect a second box.

With Christmas drawing nearer we are turning to plans for performances and other celebrations. Teachers are busy planning and the office is getting ready. This is very exciting; however, we still need to keep at the forefront of our plans, the knowledge that Covid has not gone away. In line with Warwickshire Public Health advice, any event we do put on will be risk assessed and we will have to insist that all inside performance have limited numbers.  We will also have to insist that all attendees wear a mask unless exempt and have a Lateral Flow Test-prior to coming into school.

In light of recent guidance, we have made the decision to only hold ‘live’ performances for EYFS (Nursery & Foundation) and KS1 (Years 1 & 2).

With regard to KS2 performances (Years 3,4,5 & 6).  We will only be recording these performances – there will not be any ‘live’ performances for you to attend, as numbers would be too high in the hall. I do apologise but this is unavoidable.

Please note EYFS and KS1 performances will also be recorded and sent via Dojo.

I hope you understand that we have a duty to keep everybody safe in what are still uncertain times.

We are sorry to announce that having risk assessed the Christmas fair it will no longer be possible to go ahead with it this year.

A letter detailing NEW Christmas arrangements will be sent out Monday.

And Finally…Well done to our pupil leaders who performed brilliant in the interview process. Our Head Girl is Nicole and Head boy is Zak. We also have our Deputies, Isabella and Lewis. Well done also to Oliver, Damone, Emily, Ella and Ava who will be forming our Junior Leadership Team in support.

– Mr Thornton, Head Teacher

 

‘Star of the Week’ Awards

It was great to see the smiling faces of our ‘Stars of the Week.’ At last Friday’s assembly (5/11), the following children received their award: Evelyn, Marino, Bobby, Evie, Oliver, Aaliyah, Lennon and Ava.

At today’s assembly, the following children received their award: Cody, Sienna, Eva & Bailee.  Well done everyone!

 

Attendance

Attendance up to 11th November is 93.34%. The school target is 97%.

 

Religious value of the week

Last week, St Paul’s focused on kindness and what it is to be kind and what is not, how kindness affects our lives and others, and how the smallest kind act can make a big difference in other people’s lives and our own hearts.

This week, we are taking time to reflect on reconciliation as we’re leading up to Remembrance Day. Children have listened to the story ‘Where the poppies now grow’; talked about soldiers, war, being brave and forgiving those that did us wrong and hurt us – both, a long time ago and in our day-to-day life. As we are closely linked to the Coventry Cathedral, we have learned that the Bishop of Coventry has been awarded with one of the highest distinctions that Germany can confer to individuals from the Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He received this honour for being a bridge builder between the UK and Germany after the events of November 1940 and his tireless efforts in the name of reconciliation between the UK and Germany. The children are thinking about what they can do to be bridge builder, make peace, and show forgiveness instead of seeking vengeance.

 

Friends of St Paul’s

We had our first PTA meeting this week, which went very well.  Lots will be going on over the next few weeks – Pudsey, Non-Uniform Day.

If any parents would like to volunteer their time to help, please email us on friendsofstpauls@welearn365.com  any help we can get would be greatly appreciated.

 

Staff Book Choice

Mr Payne book choice

My favourite book is Alice in Wonderland. I fell in love with the story when it was read to me when I was little and have continued reading it as an adult. I love how the crazy the characters are, speaking in nonsense terms and finding wonderment in everyday objects. My favourite part is when Alice bravely follows the white rabbit then tumbles down the rabbit hole. Time seems to stop working here, like it is a dream or a portal to another world as she falls for what seems like an eternity before crashing down onto the floor. Curiouser and Curiouser. I also really like the mad hatters tea party and have even re-created it for tea and cakes with my friends. My favourite character is the Mad March Hare, he doesn’t say very much but drinks lots of tea. I find you can relate to lots of the things in the story, and I like to take the little wisdoms from the different characters. There are loads of versions of the story, I am lucky to have a very old copy given to me by my grandparents but have enjoyed picture versions, pop up versions and even the cartoon film.

Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

 

Reading

Reception children had a great evening when they came to school in their pyjamas for a bed time story session.

Whilst the reception children were drinking hot chocolate and listening to stories, their parents were finding out about how their children learn phonics at school and how they can help them with their reading at home.

The nursery children also had a cosy bedtime story session where the parents watched the staff in nursery tell stories to their children.

 

Math’s

Mr Ridge’s Maths club have been practicing for the Primary Maths Challenge, a fun and exciting mathematical challenge aimed at 9 to 11 year olds. The challenge consists of 25 challenging questions that promote great discussion, and this years’ competition will take place between 8th and 19th November. A question from the 2015 challenge is below, which stumped some of the children at the most recent session – feel free to tweet us your solutions at @StPaulsSchNun

What fraction of all the three-digital numbers which end in 6 are multiples of 6?

In Maths, we took part in Maths Week England from 8th to 12th November. Our two big events at St. Paul’s, to excite and enthuse the children, were a ’crack-the-code’ and a Maths relay race. We had so much fun working in groups to solve the problems!

 

Nursery

In Nursery we have been learning about Guy Fawkes and bonfire night. We have been artists and created wonderful ‘firework filled night skies’ and ‘bonfires.’

Little Red Hen came to share her bread with us, so we have shared our food with St Paul’s Church food bank.

 

Reception

Reception have started their Autumn 2 topic – celebrations. We have been learning all about why people celebrate bonfire night and have learnt all about Guy Fawkes.

We have made firework pictures and rockets using different materials.

 

Year I

In Year 1 we are beginning to find out about our local area as we start our topic ‘Who are our neighbours’.

Exciting news! The Three bears have sent us a letter all the way from Canada asking if Stockingford is a suitable place for them to move to. They have asked the children to research this for them and let them know. So far we have looked at the UK and the countries that make it and have made our own compasses, using them to find hidden treasure in our playground-such fun! Each class has been on a walk around Stockingford and have made aerial maps showing physical landmarks that they have seen on the way to report back to the bears.

 

Triangle

Children enjoy a range of activities eg, playing inside and out, crafting, watching movies (during wet weather) and generally spending time playing with their friends with the games we have.  Recently they collaboratively made a handprint poppy for Remembrance Day.

 

Year 2

Maple and Willow class have started their new Geography topic ‘What if you could choose a capital city for the UK?’ They received a letter from the Queen asking them to decide on a new capital city and will spend time finding out about different cities of the UK. They had an exciting first Computing lesson of the half term, exploring Powerpoint on the laptops! During the rest of their Computing lessons, they will be using Powerpoint to make a presentation linked to the Geography topic. In Science, they have started learning about ‘Living things and the Habitats’. In lesson 1, they found out about the 7 life processes and used the mnemonic MRS GREN to help them remember what the life processes are.

 

Year 3

Year 3 have started their new topic – ‘What if the grounded started to move?’ and it has began with an explosive start!  The children are starting to look at volcanoes, that either happened thousands of years ago, like in the city of Pompeii or a volcano that is currently active and in the news at the moment, like the volcano in La Palma. Since coming back after the half term, we have been focussing on a book called ‘The Pebble In My Pocket’, which tells the story of a 480 million year old pebble.  During English lessons, Year 3 have been writing their own story about a journey of a pebble, which we can not wait to read.

Year 3 are continuing to work on learning their multiplication and division facts and are enjoying practising on Times Tables Rockstars.  They are also becoming more confident in adding and subtracting in columns.

 

Year4

This half-term year 4 have started reading a new story about Elliot Hooper, a 12 year old boy with a big problem! He has just met a very strange ‘star girl’ and we can’t wait to find out what will happen next! In Topic we have begun to learn about the Ancient Greeks and the mysterious dark ages. We are celebrating maths week in class this week and have been discussing where we find numbers in everyday life. Maths is all around us!

 

Year 5

Year 5 are thrilled to start their new topic this half term, ‘What if the Vikings had never invaded?’ We have already generated a wealth of questions that we hope to investigate and answer over the next seven weeks. Our new text, ‘Arthur and the golden rope’ has caused a flurry of intrigue for the children and we cannot wait to get our teeth into it!

In Science this half term, we are looking at properties and changes of materials. We have some exciting experiments coming up where we will be finding out how materials conduct and insulate as well as whether materials are soluble or insoluble. It’s going to get messy!

 

Year6

This half term Year 6 will be considering “Can you have a balance of power?” in their topic lessons, which will look at the system of government and the individual’s place within our democratic system. We will be exploring the British values, including the rule of law, respect, tolerance, and the responsibilities of citizens. Our visit to the Houses of Parliament (12th January) will be the exciting celebration and reinforcement activity to this learning.

In our science lessons we will be studying how electricity is generated and investigating what the effect of changing the components in a circuit has. Other highlights to look forward to will be our computing work, where we will be learning about searching the internet and film making; RE where we will be thinking about “What kind of a king was Jesus?”, and in maths we will be furthering our knowledge in calculating with fractions, decimals and percentages.

 

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)

Bonjour!  Key Stage 2 have been continuing to learn French and Year 3 have started to learn the language.

Year 3 have been learning to say hello, how they are, what their name is and how old they are.  They are enjoying using Salut for the first time, to help them learn, play French games and sing French songs.

Year 4 are continuing on from Year 3 and have been learning French words based on the topic ‘At School’.  They have been learning subjects in French and how to say what their favourite subject is.

Year 5 have been learning how to read, write and say about where they go on holiday, where they are staying and what they do at the beach and at theme parks.

Year 6 are confident with how to use Salut and really enjoy playing lots of French games like matching French words and pictures, French hangman and noughts and crosses.  These have all been based on the topic ‘In France’ where they have been learning how to say where places are in France, what is in Paris and what food they eat there.

Please ask your child to say something that they have learnt in French.  Au revoir!

 

Sports

We are now half way through our winter term sports clubs, with some fantastic progression being made by all. I would like to give a shout out to the following children who are working really hard in their activities.

Year 1,2 Multi sports – The children are trying hard to develop new skills in a variety of sports and activities they have not tried before.

Mirsat  – Football (Yr 5) – Hardwork and persistence

Hunter – Hockey – (Yr 4) – Excellent skills

Jude  – Handball – (Yr 5) – Adapted well to a new sport

Logan  – Basketball – (Yr 5) Helping others and demonstrating role model behaviour

Evie – Dodgeball – (Yr 4) – Great enthusiasm

Isabella  – Football (Yr 6) – Determination to succeed

 

Dance

This term Miss Kirsty’s Year 1 & 2 dance group are dancing to ‘By Your Side.’  The children are having lots of fun and creating fun shapes and dance styles.  Years 3 – 6 are dancing to ‘Black Magic.’  They are working hard and picking up the choreography fab! Anyone willing to join, please come along, make friends and have fun.  Miss Kirsty.

 

Bikeability

Some of the children in Year 5 have really enjoyed taking part in bikeability last half term. The course has developed their cycling skills as well as boosted their confidence on their bikes. The children learnt all about their bikes – how to check the tyres, breaks and how to get on and off it safely. As well as gaining these vital skills, the children were lucky enough to take their bikes out onto the road and safely travel around our local area.

‘We learnt how to signal to let cars know which way we were turning. It was so much fun.’ Amelia from Poplar class.

 

Photography Challenge

This term we are launching a scientific photography contest.  The winner will get a £5 amazon voucher with some prizes for runners up.  Take your best photo of some wildlife, be it an animal or plant. It could be a pet at home or something found whilst exploring nature. Whatever your camera everyone can join in.

You could even try editing your photo to enhance it. My favourite free editor is pixlr.com/x/

Or some mobile phones have fun editing apps. Send in your photos with your name on and where you took your photo for judging by December 10th.  Email your entries to the office if you cannot print them off admin3106@welearn365.com.

Prizes to be awarded after. Good Luck!

 

E-Safety

Did you know that all social media sites are restricted to 13+ (or even older)? Did you know the 13+ age restriction is based on privacy laws on data and not how appropriate the application is? That means some 13+ apps shouldn’t really be used by anyone until they are 18!

– Always report something you do not like to a trusted adult at home, at school or both!

 

Free School Meals

Pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are automatically eligible for a free school dinner under the Universal Free School Meals initiative launched by the government a few years ago.

Even if your child is in receipt of a universal free school dinner (Reception, Year 1 or Year 2) or in Nursery or in Years 3-6, if you are in receipt of any of the below benefits, please still apply by calling free schools meals on 01926 359189 as the school will receive funding to help your child.

  • income support
  • income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
  • income-related employment and support allowance (ESA)
  • guarantee element of state pension credit
  • Universal Credit (with an annual income of less than £7,400)
  • Both income-based and contribution-based JSA/ESA if you receive the same amount for both. You should also qualify if you receive both, but the income-based amount is greater, but not if the contribution-based amount is greater.
  • Families who are awarded Child Tax Credit and have an annual income assessed by HMRC to be no more than £ 16, 190, providing there is no entitlement to Working Tax Credit (unless in respect of a 4-week ‘run-on’).

When eligibility has been confirmed by the school, you will receive a £25 uniform voucher per child.

 

Accident Reporting

The school continues to use an on-line system for the recording of accidents and parents will receive an e-mail notification of any minor accident such as a small bump, cut or graze. When our first aiders consider the injury may require further medical care by a GP or Hospital or is a head injury, then our policy is to call the priority contact by telephone. Please ensure the school has all up to date phone numbers and an email address.    

 

Absence

Could we remind parents that all Illness’s need to be reported/updated daily. This can be via text or answerphone message.

As per Public Health England guidelines, if your child has sickness, Diarrhea or both, they must remain off school for 48hrs from the last episode.

You must complete a holiday request form if you wish to take your child out of school during term time, available from the school office.

 

School Dinners

The new menu from Educaterers is up and running and proving very popular. Meals Cost £2.25 per day and remember if your child is in Foundation or KS1 they are free. Menus are available on the School website and from the office.

 

Twitter

For up to date photos, links and information on what your children are doing and learning at St Paul’s every day, follow us at: twitter.com/StPaulsSchNun

 

Dates for Your Diary

 

Reminders

If you have not already done so, could you please return your child’s Christmas Dinner slip.

School Photographer will be in on Wednesday 24 November.

Nursery Places – September 2022 If you have a child of nursery age (born between 01/09/18 to 31/08/19) you can now apply for your child’s place at our Nursery.

 

Non Uniform Day: Friday 26 November

Children are invited to come into school in non uniform and bring in a donation towards our Christmas Raffle.  We are asking each year group to bring in the following:-

Nursery/Reception  –  Chocolates

Years 1 and 2 – Bottles (wine, juice). These can be dropped off at the office

Years 3 and 4 – Toiletries

Years 5 and 6 – Hamper items, i.e. non-perishable items, such as tins, biscuits, crackers etc

All items are required to make up various hampers for our raffle.

Your child should have brought home a sheet of raffle tickets to sell.  If you require any more sheets, please collect from the letter rack inside Reception.

 

Everything for Christmas

Wednesday 8 December  –  Christmas Dinner Day
Thursday 9 December –  Digital Pantomime (Years 1-5 within school time)
1, 3, 9 & 13 December – Year 6 visit to the Belgrade Theatre to see a Pantomime (within school time)
Friday 10 December – Christmas Jumper day
Thursday 16 December – Christmas Disco

  • Years 1 & 2 : 3 pm – 4 pm (children can come to school ‘dress to impress’ in their disco gear)
  • Years 3 & 4 : 4.30 pm – 5.30 pm
  • Years 5 & 6 : 6 pm – 7 pm

Tuesday 14 December – Magician – Nursery/Reception (within school time)

 

Christmas Productions

Monday 13 December – EYFS (Nursery/Reception) – 9.30 am and 2pm (more info to follow)

Tuesday 14 December – kS1 (Years 1,2) – 9.30 am and 2pm (more info to follow)

We are asking Parents/Carers of EYFS & KS1 to attend only 1 performance please AM OR PM.  Teachers will record the performances and send via Class Dojo, so you can share with other family members.

Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 – There will be no live performance, productions will be recorded and sent via Class Dojo.